Free legal services stretched as demand rises

Monday

From fighting for unemployment benefits to staving off foreclosure to watching a family unravel under financial strain, attorneys say more and more people face serious legal problems in a recession.

From fighting for unemployment benefits to staving off foreclosure to watching a family unravel under financial strain, attorneys say more and more people face serious legal problems in a recession.

Yet for many who need it most, finding a lawyer's help is getting harder all the time.

Legal services organizations that offer free civil representation for low-income, disabled and elderly people are under siege from budget cuts, a drastic drop in other revenue and surging requests for help. That means painful decisions about which clients to help and which to turn away.

"It's bad when you're sitting there at a meeting and talking about a victim of domestic violence and debating whether the one who got thrown down the stairs is worse than the one who got thrown out of the car," said Betsy Soule, executive director of MetroWest Legal Services. "It's crazy."

Even in better times, legal services groups say they only have the capacity to serve about half those who ask for assistance. At MetroWest Legal Services, which is based in Framingham, calls have climbed 25 percent in the last six months, but Soule expects a budget cut in the fiscal year that begins Wednesday from $1.7 million to about $1.35 million.

"It's just an explosion right now," Soule said. "It's very difficult, especially for the people who answer the phone and screen the callers to have to say no, because there really is no other place to send folks for comprehensive legal services."

Greater Boston Legal Services Director Robert Sable said his group, too, faces problems. Its service area includes Newton and Waltham.

"The short answer is yes, we're getting hammered on both ends - losing money and client demand up," he said.

Both programs are among 17 legal aid programs funded by the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp., which gets revenue from two sources. One is a state appropriation, cut from $11 million to $9.5 million in the budget on the governor's desk, said Lonnie Powers, executive director.

The organization also receives two-thirds of the interest on lawyers' trust accounts. Whenever an attorney holds money temporarily for a transaction, such as when a client buys real estate, it goes into an interest-bearing account. That interest helps fund legal aid programs.

Much of that interest has dried up along with real estate sales. The interest rate for such accounts also has been cut to between zero and .25 percent, Powers said. That has caused interest to drop precipitously, from $26 million in 2008 to about $10 million in fiscal 2010, meaning a 67 percent drop for Mass. Legal Assistance Corp., Powers said.

That's meant layoffs, attrition and furloughs at many legal aid groups. Soule's organization has not replaced departures, instituted a hiring freeze and will spend down its reserves, she said.

The state budget cut means upward of 2,000 cases that would have been handled otherwise probably won't be picked up, Powers said.

"It's a real disastrous result of the problems in the overall economy and the problems in the commonwealth that we're seeing these cutbacks in legal assistance when low income people really need them more than ever," he said.

Many people are seeking help with evictions by landlords who have lost their homes to foreclosure, Soule said. Homeowners, too, are seeking help in foreclosure proceedings.

More employers are contesting unemployment benefits, leaving those who have lost jobs forced to fight for them. Some are seeking transitional assistance to get by.

Divorce and family problems, too, are rising, with some parents looking to reduce child support payments after losing work, lawyers said.

In most cases, to qualify for legal aid services, clients can make no more than 125 percent of the federal poverty line, which is about $26,000 for a family of four, Soule said.

Massachusetts Bar Association President Edward McIntyre said his group and county bar associations are boosting the number of attorneys offering pro bono services to qualified clients. But legal aid work takes specific skills, and there are not enough pro bono lawyers to meet the demand, he said.

"I'm 64. I've never seen this in my lifetime," McIntyre said. "I've been a lawyer since '81."

With some analysts saying it may be 2014 before state revenue recovers, legal aid may be reaching a "chronic stage," McIntyre said.

"I don't think we can hold on, legal services in the commonwealth, perhaps without some relief," such as federal stimulus funding, he said.

Ironically, Powers said, legal aid often saves Massachusetts money by shifting qualified people from state assistance programs to federal ones.

"That's the paradox of need and resources," he said.

David Riley can be reached at 508-626-3919 or driley@cnc.com.

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